Bad Education is a passionate, empathetic, and confrontational film about the hypocrisy of homosexual condemnation within religious contexts when religious figures themselves commit homosexual molestation. Following young Madridian filmmaker Enrique Goded (Fele Martínez) in 1980 as he finds his next project, an actor who claims to be Enrique’s boarding school friend and first love, Ignacio (Gael García Bernal), arrives with a script. Claiming the script is based on their childhood, he insists that Enrique greenlight it and on playing the lead, Zahara, a trans prostitute, before leaving. When Enrique reads the script, the film continues within the script’s world, and Enrique quickly realizes the truth: the plot, depicting Zahara as she eventually works to blackmail the principal of the Catholic boarding school she went to for his molesting her as a child, is based entirely on the real Ignacio’s life. The characters are all based on real people, including Enrique himself; the events that transpire mainly are real; the emotional connections and dehumanizing trauma within the story occurred in Ignacio’s life. As the plot continues to thicken, Bad Education sleekly unravels into a mesmerizingly in-your-face tale of societal discrimination, hypocrisy, self-exploration, competition, and sexual exploitation.

Bad Education plays well primarily because of its unpredictable, discomforting storyline. While many films depict the devastating personal effects of religious molestation and queer condemnation, none are as layered or direct as this. The film and filmmakers understand the power they hold over the viewers, and they do not hold back. Instead of merely mentioning or describing traumatic events, the film shows them or the tense buildup beforehand. Throwing in a meta element with its film-in-a-film tactic allows its themes to transcend the traditional barriers of cinematic storytelling without overstating them. The film also unravels like a modernized mystery thriller, with unexpected and shocking twists that leave viewers on edge. It lulls at times because many scenes are overextended, but for the most part, it is angsty, angry, and intelligent in satisfactory ways. It is an iconic representation of LGBT+ rage and their issues, yelling at viewers to understand the crisis.

Bad Education
2004
dir. Pedro Almodóvar
106 min.

Screens on 35mm Tuesday, 10/10, 5:00pm & 7:15pm @ Brattle Theatre
Part of the repertory series: Queer Pride/Queer Wrath